Improvement in fire-escapes and hose-elevators



2 Sheets-L-Sheet 2.

Nog-120,211, Patentedoct. 24,1871.

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but:

UNITED Sra'rns PATENT CFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY NOBLES,

OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,211, dated October24, 1871.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WLLLIAM HENRY NoBLEs, of St. Paul, in the county ofRamsay and State of Minnesota, have invented a new Hose-Elevator andFire-Escape, of which the following is a specification:

The objects of my invention are as follows, viz.:

First, to elevate a hose, and iiremen to operate it to a great height,and to keep them there securely while it is necessary for them to work,or to place them upon any part of a building. Second, to take people orgoods from the upper stories or' a burning building and land them safelyin the street. Third, to propel or to withdraw a car or a mechanism fromone place to another While the operative machinery is stationary andunder the control of a single operator. Fourth, to elevate or lowergoods or people in a building from one story to another.

All these diii'erent purposes are accomplished by one simple mechanism,and I have shown it in the drawing as applied to a machine which can beused for the double purpose of a hoseelevator and a lire-escape.

It has long been well known and admitted by all our liremen that muchloss of property, and also of life, could be prevented if an apparatuswere made by which the remen could rise above the iire and play downupon it, instead of being' obliged to play up through the air and comeupon the llames with a stream which, by the time it reaches them, haslost a great portion of its force. In our present re system the commonladder is the best form of apparatus used for carrying hose to the upperstories; but a large one cannot be put in place without a greatexpenditure of time and great labor, and when once in position it isvery difficult to move it to another place. Further thanthis, it mustalways lean against something, and very frequently a proper supportcannot be obtained. With my apparatus I can go close to the building, asclose as it can be done With a ladder; or I can move my machine to anydistance and in either direction from the fire, and then carry up thehose and firemen so as to gain an elevation sufficient to enable them toplay down upon it. As a lireescape my apparatus is unsurpassed, for itcan be raised to the height of any roof or window and then quicklylowered with its freight.

I n the drawing, Figure 1 is a ont elevation,

and Fig. 2 a side elevation of my hose-elevator and fire-escape whenclosed. Fig. 3 is a plan of the platform, the dotted lines showing' themode of framing. Fig. 4 is an isometrical view of the elevator whenextended, and Figs. 5 and 6 are details showing the mode of locking theparts together.

A represents a platform, heavily framed and planked over, which restsupon three trucks, B, C, and C. 0n this platform I raise two posts, Dand D', securing them firmly at the base and thoroughly staying them bymeans of braces a a and hog-chains b b. Between these posts, which arefirmly connected at the top, is a series of frames, E F G, (and in Fig.4 G,) and a mast, H. On the mast, and iirmly braced to it, is a smallplatform or basket, J. In front ofthe frames is a ladder, K, extendingfrom the lower platform to the upper when the machine is closed. e o eare adjusting-screws, to level or adjust the various portions of theplatform. f is a spring'- clamp, to hold the ends of the poles on thetrucks C C. g is a length of a hose extending from A to J, and connectedwith a fire-plug at J. M is an extension piece, fitted in slides on theplatform A, so that it can be extended to give a broad base at the backofthe machine. N is a cog-ged drum, to raise and lower the sections, andit is operated by means of the wheel P, endless chain p', pinion andcrank 1", and pawl and ratchet s. R is a brace hinged to the extensionpiece M, and so connected with the post D as to take from the platformthe weight of the machinery in part and to throwit upon theadjusting-screws. V is a latch-bolt fastened to a spring, zo; and a' isa projection over which the bolt o locks. t is a Wheel, to keep thebasket clear from the side of a building in going up.

The operation of my mechanism is as follows, viz.: The platform A isarranged on trucks, as shown, each truck being pivoted so that it can beturned in any direction. The tongues of the trucks C and C are clampedby the spring-clamps ff, and horses are attached to the truck B to dragthe machine to the place Where its services are required. On arrivingthere the truck E and one of the other trucks can be vturned on theiraxes, so as to hold the whole machine firmly in its place. If the groundon vwhich it rests is level, this will be all that is required but if itis necessary -to operateit on a sloping grade,

then some arrangement will be required for leveling, and I therefore usethe screws c c. They are shown in the drawing in two different ways,those in the rear of the platform A in Fig. l being intended to raisethe platform from the truck, while the others are to raise the platformwith the truck. The rear screws in Figs. 2, 3, and 4l are attached tothe extension pieces M M, and their operation is obvious. The forwardscrew raises the front of the platform and throws the basket toward andin contact with the building, if required, and it controls, as it were,the whole mechanism. When the platform is leveled, two men ascend theladder to the basket J and attach a hose andnozzle to the coupling onthe stationary hose g', and as soon as the hose is connected with ahydrant or engine the men can commence playing upon the iire. In manycases they would be at a sufficient elevation without being raised anyhigher, as I calculate that the basket would always be at a height offrom twenty-live to thirty feet from the ground when the machine isclosed 5 but if they are too low, two men on each side turn the cranks rr, when the central cogs take hold of the mast H and raise it until itarrives at a point where a springlatch, c, fastens it to the frame E,raising the latter until the next set of cogs connects with it, when thecogs leave the mast H, and the two sections H and E, being firmly joinedtogether, they are thrown up by the action of the cogs upon E, until thelatter locks upon F, as shown in Fig. 5. F is then raised, and, in itsturn, locks into and raises, and then is raised by G until the baskethas arrived at its eXtreme elevation, where, as well as at all pointsduring its ascent, it is held up by the pawl and ratchet s. When raisedabove the ladder it is well to have guyropes attached to the upper mast,which can be carried out from the machine in any direction and securedat convenient points. The sections are lowered in the usual way, and abrake may be applied if desired. The lock which holds the sectionstogether is so constructed that when one section reaches its lowerbearing a cog, or the periphery of one of the wheels, presses thespringlatch bolt u back and relieves it from the lock m, so that thenext section may descend. In this way all the sections can be broughtdown Iand folded together, as shown in Fig. 1, without the least jar tothe occupants of the basket, as will be obvious from the fact that thecogs take hold of an upper section before the lower one is released.This lock I consider of great importance, as by it I can clamp thesections firmly together, and then release them in an automatic manner.By dovetailing the parts o and x the sections can be prevented frompulling apart sidewise, and this would enable me to use single piecesinstead of frames for the sections when propelling a car or machinery ina horizontal direction. I prefer to make the different sections' ofvarying thicknesses of material, having the central one, or mast H, thethinnest, as thereby I save weight in the upper sections; and by havingthe cogged drum arranged with different-sized Wheels, as shown, I gainpower with every section that is raised.

I claim as my inventionl. A series of telescopic sections, which isextended and retracted by cogged wheels engaging with racks upon thesections when they are so arranged that the section upon which the cogsare acting will be operated by the direct action of the cogs upon thesection, all as herein described.

2. In combination with extending and retracting sections, the lockingarrangement herein described, consisting of the spring-hitch c and catchm, when constructed as shown, and made to unlock by the pressure of acog, or the periphery of a wheel, upon the latch o.

3. In combination with the platform. A, the three pivoted trucks B, C,and C', as and for the purpose specied.

4. The spring-clamps ff, as arranged, for holding the tongues ofthe-trucks C C.

WILLIAM HENRY NOBL'ES.

Witnesses GHAs. F. SLEEPER,

